Alpha Town Hall Meeting: An Update from the University of Missouri

Alpha Town Hall Meeting:
An Update from the University of Missouri

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
- Frederick Douglass

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
- Frederick Douglass

Systematic racism plagues many of our American institutions, and our system of higher learning is no different. As such, we as a fraternity have to remain proactive in the fight for racial, economic, and social justice. That's why the events we have currently watched unfold on the University of Missouri campus, as unfortunate as they are, come as no surprise to those who continue to feel the all too real symptoms of racism in our culture. I have been in constant contact with our brothers of Zeta Alpha chapter seated at the University of Missouri. Zeta Alpha chapter president, Brother Phelan Simpkins, Missouri Students Association president, Brother Payton Head, and Brother Anthony Sherrils, a Mizzou football player, have been exhibiting outstanding leadership throughout the events of this week.

They weren’t alone as students and faculty took a stand to make the University of Missouri a better establishment, particularly the Mizzou football players, who unified not only to take an action for social justice but one with economic implications. These student-athletes supported their fellow UM student, Jonathan Butler, member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, who staged a hunger strike until UM president Tim Wolfe resigned. Everyone who came together did so not because it would be instantly beneficial individually but to create the long-term change needed as a community.

It will take collective action on all of our parts to ensure an environment on our campuses that is free of hate, discrimination, and harassment. We believe the next step for Mizzou and for our nation as a whole is to be proactive in understanding the history of race in America and identifying the microaggressions that result from ignorance.

Again, I commend the brothers of Zeta Alpha and the students of the University of Missouri for creating safe spaces and having productive dialogues on race.